The present invention is directed to lamp devices such as those used in connection with brake and signal systems on motor vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, etc. Recently, goverment authorities involved in the use of safety devices on motor vehicles have proposed the use of more visible brake lights than those customarily used in the tail section of automobiles and trucks.
Conventional stop lamps mounted at the rear tail section of a vehicle are low in position and hard to see. The plane of vision of drivers of automobiles is more in line with the rear window of the automobile which they are travelling behind that the lower positioned tail section. This is especially true of drivers of trucks who sit in an elevated cab section. In situations where a driver must react quickly to a sudden stop or change of direction of the vehicle in front of him, it takes a moment for the driver to adjust his plane of vision downward to visually pick up the illumination of the vehicle's brake lights and/or directional signals. In emergency situations, the time lost for a driver to adjust his line of sight can be critical, as evidenced by the large number of rear end collisions on highways and local streets.
In view of the above, an additional stop lamp is sometimes mounted at a lower end of the rear window of the vehicle, separately from the conventional vehicle stop lamps and above the conventional vehicle stop lamps. It is preferable that the stop lamp of this kind is made as small as possible so as not to obscure the rear view of a driver, but which has a high performance. It is further desirable that upwardly directed light should be avoided as much as possible so as not to interfere with the vision of other drivers or to dazzle the driver following the vehicle.
The object of the present invention therefore, is to provide a brake light/signal light system in which the time lost in reacting to the illumination of the signal is minimized.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a lamp device which is easily mounted on a motor vehicle and which provides a highly visible light signal in the normal plane of vision of the trailing driver, but which is small enough so as not to obscure the rear vision of the driver of the vehicle.